THE AFFIDAVIT

THE AFFIDAVIT

In The High Court Of Lagos State In The Ikeja Judicial Division, Affidavit Verification Facts Received From My Client I, Festus Keyamo, male, Nigerian citizen, legal practitioner of Festus Keyamo Chambers, Suites BC 7 & 8, Maryland Shopping Complex, Maryland, do hereby make oath and states as follows:

1. That I am a counsel to one Olugbenga Joseph Damola Adebayo (alias Frayo) by virtue of which am conversant with the facts herein deposed and I have his consent and authority to depose to this affidavit. 2. That I have decided to depose to this affidavit and make it public out of my patriotic duty and altruistic desire to ensure that the killers of Chief Bola Ige are brought to book and to supply the missing link to the jigsaw puzzle that has confronted the nation. It is also to ensure that there is no cover-up whatsoever to this very wicked crime.

3. That Olugbenga Joseph Damola Adebayo has briefed me and I verily believe him:

(a) that he was declared in the media as the most wanted man in connection with the brutal murder on Sunday, December 23, 2001, of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief James Ajibola Ige.

that he decided to give me these facts freely before he turns himself in, so that he clears his conscience and his hands of all he knows pertaining to the murder.
that he knows as a fact that the succession of events leading to the brutal murder of Chief Bola Ige started building up slowly till Monday, December 10, 2001, when there was a fracas in the Osun State House of Assembly and further escalated when Chief Bola Ige was attacked at the Palace of O’oni of Ife during the conferment of chieftaincy title on Chief (Mrs.) Stella Obasanjo, the wife of the President Saturday, December 15, 2001.
(d) that after that fateful day, the succession of events quickened in tempo until the eventual murder of Chief Bola Ige.

(e) that before the 8th of December, 2001, he was Assistant Public Relations Officer of Alliance for Democracy (AD) Iremo (Ward 1) in Ile-Ife Central Constituency.

(f) that at the same time he remained a part 2 student of the Department of Physical and Health Education, Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife.
that he first met the Honourable Odunayo Omobolande Olagbaju, during his campaigns into the House of Assembly in 1999, and they became close friends.
(h) that he thereafter met Otunba Iyiola Omisore, the Deputy Governor of Osun State through Honourable Odunayo Olagbaju.
that Honourable Odunayo Olagbaju himself became close to the Deputy Governor because they are both from the same Ife-Central Constituency, and that Otunba Iyiola Omisore, underwrote some of the campaign expenses of Honourable Odunayo Olagbaju.
(j) that he knows as a fact that Honourable Odunayo Olagbaju was the ‘brain box’ behind Otunba Iyiola Omisore.

(k) that he is not too sure of the source of the conflict between the governor and his deputy, but he was regularly updated about it by Honourable Odunayo Olagbaju.
that sometime last year, the Deputy Governor, Otunba Iyiola Omisore called Honourable Odunayo Olagbaju and himself and told them that he (Omisore) had the mandate of the Presidency to cross over to the People’s Democratic Party (P.D.P.) where he would be fielded as a gubernatorial aspirant in 2003 since he was being frustrated within the A.D. and particularly because the P.D.P. is so desperate to capture Osun and Oyo states.
(m) that the Deputy Governor therefore told them that preparatory to declaring his intention, all his supporters should immediately start decamping to the P.D.P.
that he therefore crossed over to the P.D.P. and was immediately appointed the Organising Secretary of P.D.P. in Iremo (Ward 1) in Ife-Central Constituency and was immediately promised the councillorship of that ward.
(o) that Honourable Odunayo Olagbaju and all of Omisore’s supporters also crossed over and they began to hold regular meetings with the State P.D.P.
that on a number of occasions, Otunba Iyiola Omisore assured them that funds from the Presidency are unlimited and that the P.D.P. was surely going to take over control of the state through him.

(q) that on a number of occasions, Omisore would leave for some trips, telling them that he was on errand for the Presidency. For example, during the fracas in the Osun House of Assembly on the 10th of December, 2001, Otunba Omisore was not around because he told them he was on errand for the Presidency.

(r) that in the early hours of Monday, December 10, 2001, Honourable Olagbaju rushed to him and informed him that there was a planned impeachment of their political godfather, Otunba Omisore, by forces in the Osun State House of Assembly sympathetic to Governor Bisi Akande.

that Olagbaju therefore asked him to mobilise students and youths to protest this development since a case was already in court and the rules of the House dictated that no one can debate matters before any court of law.
(t) that he immediately mobilised people for a peaceful protest, but when they arrived there they saw that dangerous weapons were freely being used by both sides.

(u) that in fairness and in truth, Honourable Odunayo Olagbaju himself had a gun with him when the other side opened fire on them, though he did not see him use it.
that after the activities of the House were successfully paralysed, they retreated to the outskirts of the town where Honourable Olagbaju joined them shortly after and told them he still had to go into town to brief Omisore’s other supporters about the success in stalling proceedings on that day.
(w) that surprisingly, only their supporters were later arrested and charged by the Osun State Police Command, and all supporters of Governor Bisi Akande were all released by the Police.
that this is because he knows as a fact that the Commissioner of Police of Osun State is very partisan in the crises as he is a close ally of Governor Bisi Akande while the Head of the State Security Services in Osun State is a close ally of Otunba Iyiola Omisore.
(y) that Otunba Iyiola Omisore told them when he came back that they should be prepared for "the battle ahead" as he had just been given more money by "Abuja" to organise more protests to discredit the Alliance for Democracy in the State, and to show that AD is "not on the ground".
that on Saturday, December 15, 2001, Honourable Olagbaju sent word to him about the event at the Palace on that day and said Otunba Omisore had instructed that all of them (his supporters) converge that day in the Palace.

(aa) that at the Palace that day he was with Otunba Iyiola Omisore with other supporters, except Honourable Olagbaju who later confided in him that he could not make it for spiritual reasons.

(ab) that as Chief Bola Ige was leaving, he was right behind the Deputy Governor, together with his brother, one Kola Omisore. All of them also got up and followed the crowd.

(ac) that Otunba Iyiola Omisore then signalled Kola Omisore, his brother, to get Ige’s cap for him and instructed my client to keep the cap and hand it over to him later.]

(ad) that it was Kola Omisore who then removed the cap of Chief Bola Ige, handed it over to him, but out of excitement he threw it up to catch it, only for it to get stuck on a tree. He left it there.

(ae) that Kola Omisore also removed the glasses of Chief Bola Ige and flung them away as the Deputy Governor did not insist on keeping that one.

(af) that after this incident, on the same day, Omisore took a selected group of them to Hilton Hotel, Ife, where the following people, among others were present:

Kunle Alao, ex-Commissioner under Governor Akande and removed for his loyalty to Otunba Omisore.

(ii) One other notable person whom he can simply identify as ‘Jalo’.

(iii) The Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, who was careful not to be seen with them, was in a room upstairs, but was not physically present with them. He was later to meet with the two people mentioned above.

(ag) that Otunba Omisore celebrated the ‘Ige incident’ by declaring surplus food and drinks on the said day in the said hotel.

(ah) that it was at that venue that Otunba Omisore called him aside and said something to the effect that they have done well over Ige but that the job was not yet done. He asked him in Yoruba to name his price to kill Chief Bola Ige. He said it is then that the job would be "complete".

(ai) that he was shocked and surprised because he did not see himself as anything more than a political supporter. He resolved he could not do that kind of thing.

(aj) that he tried to hide his surprise when he calmly asked him about the Police Security around Chief Bola Ige.

(ak) that Otunba Omisore calmly placed his hands on him and told him that with "Abuja", that would not be too difficult.

(al) that he did not want to show his disloyalty by openly turning him down so he raised the amount to something about N15 million (Fifteen Million Naira).

(am) that Omisore offered N5 Million (Five Million Naira) but he explained that many others would have to be involved. Omisore told him he was too greedy and told him he could get others for something cheaper.

(an) that they returned to their tables and did not discuss the matter again and shortly after he left.

(ao) that on Tuesday, the 18th of December, 2001, he went to Court at Oshogbo with Honourable Olagbaju to show their solidarity over the case of Otunba Omisore. The case was adjourned to the 7th of February, 2002.

(ap) that on Wednesday, the 19th of December, 2001, he was with Honourable Olagbaju at a spot known as "Old School’, drinking. After some time, he asked him to go to Enuwa to get his car, but he returned later to tell him he could not get the car and bade him farewell.

(aq) that a friend then took him to his house.

(ar) that early on Thursday, December 20, 2001, the Personal Assistant to Honourable Olagbaju, one Femi, woke him up at about 6 a.m. to break the news to him that shortly after he left them the previous day, Honourable Olagbaju was killed, incidentally opposite the Ife Divisional Police Station where he was drinking in Moore.

(as) that Femi narrated how Honourable Olagbaju was first shot several times, then to make sure that he did not have charms against gun-shot wounds, he was macheted several times and then a sledge hammer was used on his head several times.

(at) that as this happened the attackers repeatedly told Olagbaju that he could no longer save Omisore from impeachment.

(au) that both Femi and the other witness to the attack present who is one Olumide Ayilara, gave the identity of the attackers, who they knew very well as follows:

One fellow simply known as "Egbegi": This fellow was arrested during the Ife-Modakeke crises. He is a native of Ife and a political thug to Honourable Omidiora, representing Ife-East Constituency in Osun State Assembly. Omidiora in turn is a staunch loyalist of Governor Bisi Akande, and Omidiora championed the planned impeachment of Omisore. The said Egbegi stays in Ondo Road, Ile-Ife.

(b) The second attacker was one ‘Olaolu’. He was arrested with guns during the Ife-Modakeke crises. He is a political thug to the Ife-Central Local Government Chairman, Honourable Kunle Adeniji, who in turn is a staunch supporters of Governor Bisi Akande. Olaolu stays in Isale-Agbara in Ile-Ife.

(av) that they then mobilised youths who stormed the residence of these individuals, since the Police failed to act or make any arrest.

(aw) that in the house of the said Egbegi, a list of those as approved by Chief Bisi Akande to be eliminated was recovered. Honourable Olagbaju was number one and his name was number four. The Ife-East local government chairman was number two and one Biyi Odunlade was number three.

(ax) that the said list is with one Dr. Wale Oladipo.

(ay) that up till now, strangely, the Osun State Police Command has not arrested these named attackers who murdered Honourable Olagbaju.

(az) that on the 21st December, 2001, now two days before Chief Bola Ige was murdered, he went very early to Otunba Omisore’s official quarter at Osogbo between 8-9am.

(ba) that he went in company of Shehu, his younger brother, and with one car belonging to one Kunle Alao.

(bb) that he went there to ask for Omisore’s Police Orderly to follow him to Honourable Olagbaju’s house to take Olagbaju’s Alsatian dogs and puppies, since there was no one to feed them, as Honourable Olagbaju’s wife and kids had been quickly evacuated to Ketu in Lagos State.

(bc) that for the second time, Otunba Omisore called him aside and asked if he was now prepared to do "the job" for the N5 million since his friend was now dead. He told him he could not for that price.

(bd) that at that stage, the Assistant Inspector-General in charge of that Zone, whose name he cannot recall, came to meet with Otunba Omisore, and he quickly dismissed them saying they had something urgent and important to discuss.

(be) that he states and restates again that even though he was contacted to do the job, he was not the one that pulled the trigger.

(bf) that they should ask Omisore who and who he got with approval of "Abuja", when he refused.

(bg) that the following are the names and telephone numbers of those to whom he often related with politically in Osun State.

(a) Otunba Iyiola Omisore - 035-242722

(b) Asiwaju of Ife - 036-233007

(d) Honourable Odunayo Olagbaju’s father - 036-231285

(e) Dr. Wale Oladipo - 036-233638

4. That I swear to this affidavit in good faith.

Sworn to at the High Court Registry, Ikeja, this 11th day of January, 2002.

BEFORE ME

S. ONABAWO

COMMISSIONER FOR OATHS

January 2002